Countdown trolley 'dash' to feed Salvation Army's Foodbank

It might not have been as fast as a dash, but yesterday morning's trolley dash for charity was certainly faster than a dawdle.

Napier resident James Morette, who is aged 83, won a $400 trolley dash, and decided to donate the $400 prize to the Salvation Army's Foodbank.

"I'm glad it came off as well as it did," Mr Morette said.

In a normal trolley dash, Countdown gives a person two minutes to run around the supermarket and gather up to $400 worth of items.

However, it waived the two-minute limit for Mr Morette.

Despite there being no time limit, Mr Morette and his helper, perishables manager Glenn Porter, managed to fill their two trolleys relatively quickly.

"I didn't realise it was going to be that fast," Mr Morette said.

"If they had put the time limit on it, it would have been two minutes, and fortunately they didn't, and we were able to at least spend some time you know, picking and selecting the stuff.

"I couldn't keep up with him (Porter) but he was very cool headed about the whole thing."

The Salvation Army's Community Engagement Leader in Hawke's Bay, Lynda Otter, helped the pair select items the foodbank needed.

"It'll make such a difference to those people who just need our services to, you know, get over a hump."

She said it was hard to tell by sight, but she thought there was enough food to feed over 20 families.

"It's probably a lot more than 20, it's really hard to estimate."

As well as Mr Morette's donation, Countdown Napier has donated $400 worth of food vouchers, so the Salvation Army could top up the foodbank's shelves as they needed it.

"We really appreciate Countdown as a national partner and locally here," Otter said.

"We have a really caring community here in Napier, we should be proud of it."

As it is the end of winter, the foodbank shelves were looking a bit depleted.

"We've just had the national campaign, which is certainly going to help, and this will be absolutely wonderful because it will help to fill those shelves, we've had quite a demand on it."

If you are interested in donating to the foodbank, mainly need non-perishable items such as pasta, rice, canned items such as spaghetti, baked beans and tomatoes, and toiletries are needed.

The trolley dash was being run as part of Countdown's OneCard two-year celebration.